AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AMIENSUS — “ALL PATHS LEAD TO DEATH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
May 122017
 

 

Last fall, Minnesota’s Amiensus signed with Apathia Records for the release of a new EP this spring, and the release of that EP is now fast approaching. Its name is All Paths Lead To Death, and the release date is May 19th. We’ve previously written about the first two singles from the EP, and now we’ve got the good fortune to bring you a stream of the EP in its entirety.

We’re told by the band that “the concept of the album revolves around Hell and different depictions as well”, which ties to the John Martin artwork used on the cover, depicting Satan reigning on his throne in the hall of the Pandæmonium. And the music ties to that concept as well. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH, 2017 (PART 3): CRAVEN IDOL / SYNAPTIK / TELEPATHY

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
May 122017
 


Craven Idol

 

(Andy Synn focuses once again on a trio of recent or forthcoming releases by UK bands, this time selecting material from Craven Idol, Synaptik, and Telepathy.)

What a veritable smorgasbord of metallic delights I have here for your delectation. Though, with the joys of Brexit coming up, I suppose I won’t be able to use words like “smorgasbord” for much longer, lest I be declared a traitor to the crown…

Anyway, putting the politics and pontificating to one side, here are three stellar slabs of UK Metal for you all to savour – the throat-ripping Black/Thrash of Craven Idol, the epic and extravagant Prog-Metal of Synaptik, and the intricate instrumental storytelling of Telepathy. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WHITE WARD — “FUTILITY REPORT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
May 122017
 

 

Futility Report is brilliant in a way that few albums are in any year. As much as anything else, it’s brilliant because in its vaulting inventiveness and unexpected juxtapositions it could have been a train wreck, mangled bodies strewn about like broken toys, and fractured machines burning in a jumble of warped iron and splattered diesel. Instead, like mad scientists who are in fact visionaries, White Ward have produced something through their freakish gene-splicing of genre families that’s utterly mesmerizing.

We’ve had the pleasure of premiering two songs from Futility Report already, and I could hardly be happier that we’ve been asked now to premiere a full stream of this remarkable album on the date of its release. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ANTROPOFAGUS — “METHODS OF RESURRECTION THROUGH EVISCERATION (M.O.R.T.E.)”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
May 112017
 

 

Prepare yourselves for utterly relentless punishment, coupled with utterly electrifying speed and precision in the administration of the beating you are about to receive. In other words, prepare for a full stream of the new album by Italy’s Antropofagus, aptly titled Methods Of Resurrection Through Evisceration.

If you’ve heard the advance tracks that have appeared leading up to the May 12 release of this album (including the two we have premiered), then you will have a good idea of what awaits you. But that still won’t adequately prepare you for the cumulative impact of these 10 explosive songs. And “explosive” is the right word to use, because the album has been produced in a way that causes it to detonate (repeatedly) with staggering power, and with a balance and clarity that enhances its galvanizing effect without detracting from its stunning brutality. Continue reading »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS (DYNFARI, BEREFT, FRACTAL UNIVERSE)

 Album Reviews, Reviews In Haikus  No Responses »
May 112017
 

(We present another edition of Andy Synn’s three-line reviews.)

 

That’s right, it’s time for the return of everyone’s favourite irregular (in more ways than one) column, Reviews in Haikus.

This time around it’s an intriguing mix of Icelandic Black Metal, American Doom, and French Prog-Death, so there should be something for (practically) everyone! Continue reading »

EXCOMMUNION — “THRONOSIS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
May 092017
 

 

(Todd Manning brings us this review of the new EP by Colorado’s Excommunion, and we also bring you a full stream of the music.)

At this point, it’s no secret that I have been extolling the great state of Death Metal in 2017, and so I wanted to pen a quick missive singing the infernal praises of another powerful release, the new Excommunion album, Thronosis.

I’ve noticed that so much of this great Death Metal is coming from scene veterans, and Excommunion is in that camp. This is the follow-up to 2002’s full-length Superion (with a split in between), and this release finds the group in fine form. Continue reading »

VERMIN LORD AND NIHTWINTRE: A SPLIT

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
May 082017
 

 

As regular visitors to our site well know, I’ve been carefully following the releases of Seattle-based Vermin Lord, beginning with the project’s excellent 2016 debut album Anguish. Last Friday brought another new Vermin Lord release, this time a split with the Seattle black metal project Nihtwintre.

Both sides of the split are very good, both of them shrouded in darkness, sorcery, and loss, though musically the two bands are quite distinct from each other. There’s a full stream of the split at the end of this post, preceded by some thoughts about the songs. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: BLACK HARVEST — “ATTRITION”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
May 082017
 

 

(Austin Weber brings us this premiere of the new EP by New York’s Black Harvest, along with some introductory impressions of the music.)

Some musicians are content to play within traditional sounds and genre boundaries, while others (Devin Townsend comes to mind) see all of music’s many genres as a vast palette that one can draw from and combine in new ways to paint a musical world all their own. This form of vast experimentation lies at the heart of all that Kishor Haulenbeek does, as both an incredibly talented visual artist and also as a musician with multiple musical projects that he has used to explore different facets of his interests, all of which convey an honest emotional feeling yet cover dramatically  different musical terrain.

Last year here at NCS, I finally got around to covering his fantastic mathcore-addled technical grindcore band Crisis Actor, and shoehorned in some coverage of his primary project, Black Harvest, at the same time. Today we’re bringing you an early stream of the group’s fantastic new EP, Attrition. Continue reading »

ULSECT: “ULSECT”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 082017
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the self-titled debut album by the Dutch band Ulsect, which will be released on May 12 by Season of Mist.)

It seems like you can hardly turn around these days without tripping over another angular, off-kilter Death Metal band who worship at the throne of Gorguts/Deathspell Omega.

I’m not quite sure when, or how, it happened, but someone somewhere appears to have opened the floodgates, and the torrent (ok, maybe “torrent” is pushing it) shows little sign of dying off just yet.

As a result it’s more important than ever to learn how to sift through all the dross, panning for those morsels of burnished gold which shine brighter than all the rest. Continue reading »

BENEATH THE NCS RADAR (PART 22) — TNBM SPECIAL: BEASTCRAFT, ENDEZZMA, ÖRTH, WHOREDOM RIFE

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
May 082017
 

 

(Our friend Gorger from Norway sings the song of his people in this 22nd installment in his ongoing series reviewing releases we’ve overlooked. To find more of his discoveries, type “Gorger” in our search bar or visit Gorger’s Metal.)

 

☠ True Norwegian Black Metal ☠
 

When realizing I had four pieces of True Norwegian Black Metal to share with you, I obviously decided to pile them together. I’ve sorted them alphabetically, allowing me to finish of with a favored newcomer. All the others are veterans, each with a more or less significant background and history. Continue reading »

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